


eighth grade

by BakaRamenBowl



Series: penpalstuck [2]
Category: Homestuck, MS Paint Adventures
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-25
Updated: 2013-04-07
Packaged: 2017-12-06 07:48:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 3,138
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/733166
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BakaRamenBowl/pseuds/BakaRamenBowl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>karkat and John have been in contact for six years. This is karkat's point of view as he goes through his eighth grade blues.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. beginning of school

Karkat walked to school with his hood up. Kankri, Sollux and Mituna had left without waking him up, so Karkat was two hours late. When he arrived, he immediately got detention, he missed lunch break, and some asshole had dumped a bucket of paint into his backpack.

It was easy to tell that today, Karkat Frederick Vantas hated the universe.

As soon as he was allowed to go home, the sky decided to pour sheets of rain on him. he growled under his breath as he waited for the walk signal to change. some guy in a smart car drove really close to the curb and splashed mud all over the albino. If Karkat got any more infuriated, one would probably see steam coming from his ears. 

When he got home, his laptop showed that he had recieved a message.

-ectoBiologist [EB] began pestering carcinoGeneticist [CG] -

EB: hey, karkat!

EB: you there?

CG: FUCK

CG: YEAH IM HERE EGBERT. WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU WANT?

EB: oh, good. i thought that you werent going to talk to me today. 

CG: WHY THE FUCK WOULD YOU THINK THAT LOAD OF FUCKING BULLSHIT?

CG: I TALK TO YOU EVERY DAY. WHY WOULD TODAY BE ANY DIFFERENT?

EB: i don't know. you hadn't answered immediately, like usual, so i thoug

CG: OH FUCKING STOP, EGBERT! THERE IS NO REST FROM YOUR THICKNESS, IS THERE?

EB: hahaha, i guess not! i'm just glad that you aren't sick of me yet!

CG: EGBERT, IF I HAVENT GOTTEN SICK OF YOU BEFORE NOW, I SURE AS HELL AM NOT GOING TO GROW SICK OF YOU.

CG: DID YOU GET IT?

EB: the cat charm?

CG: YEAH.

EB: yeah! it's adorable!

Karkat blushed at the screen. He and John have been friends for nearly six years now. How the bubbly brunette hadn't gotten tired of Karkat, the albino teen couldn't fathom. they had to buy another set of charm bracelets to add to, because the origionals were packed with charms. They had pictures of eachother from various events in their lives, and they sometimes talked on the phone with eachother.

And some how, Karkat had started to blush at the smallest of things John says. The gifts they often exchange mean more to the white haired boy than pretty much anything else. Karkat had kept his letters his presents, the chatlogs. he didn't want to forget having a friend if the day ever came that john would grow tired of him. So Karkat preserved every little memory, just to keep them safe.


	2. Stupid Dumb

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> john stayed up all night to tell karkat good morning.

Karkat was pissed. Now, this was generaly his default mood anyway, but today, he was more pissed than usual. He was stuck buddied up with his twin brother for a school field trip to paris. And kankri wouldn't shut the fuck up. Karkat had long since stopped listening to his brother and was instead looking at his cellphone, on which was a text from John.

JOHN DUMMY: hey, karkat! good morning!  
KARKAT: WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING UP THIS LATE? OR EARLY? TAKE YOUR PICK.  
JOHN DUMMY: i wanted to tell you good morning.  
KARKAT: IM ON A FIELD TRIP, YOU DUMB FUCK. AND TELLING ME GOOD MORNING ISNT A GOOD REASON TO STAY UP ALL NIGHT.  
JOHN DUMMY: well, i wasn't falling asleep, and so i waited until i knew you would be awake defore texting you good morning.  
KARKAT: GO THE FUCK TO SLEEP!

And he kinda yelled that in frustration as he typed it. Everyone on the train looked at him, before returning to whatever they were doing.

"Karkat' are you feeling all right? Because if you aren't we should tell a teacher. Though if I have to miss the rest of the field trip because you aren't feeling well would be mildly triggering. Trigger#missing out on history." Kankri said, brushing his black hair out of his eyes. His freckles stood out from his pale skin, but of course he had his sunglasses.

"Oh my fucking god, Kankri! I don't even want to be here. I'm already fucking triggered, you have no fucking clue, you assfuck." Karkat groaned, rubbing his eyes with the heels of his hands. Karkat hadn't been able to find his sunglasses or his sunscreen, so his eyes hurt from the sun, and he was already slightly burnt. He had the hood of his pullover up, to try and fend off as many rays of sunlight as he could.

"Triggers?"

"tw#waking up to Mituna yelling, #sun, #your voice, #my best friend staying up until two to tell me good morning, #my best friend being dumb, #my best friend..." Karkat trailed off. Why was John so fucking triggering?!

"Oh... " Kankri fell silent, and Karkat glared at his phone, which buzzed with another text.

JOHN DUMMY: but i don't want to...  
KARKAT: YOU KNOW WHAT, EGBERT?!  
JOHN DUMMY: what?  
KARKAT: YOU ARE STUPIDER THAN DUMB. YOU ARE STUPID DUMB. THAT IS YOUR NEW NAME. I AM FOREVER LABLING YOU STUPID DUMB. THAT WILL EVEN BE YOUR NAME ON MY PHONE.  
KARKAT: THERE. IT IS DONE. YOU HAVE FOREVER BEEN DUBBED STUPID DUMB. HOW DO YOU LIKE IT?  
STUPID DUMB: did you really change my name to stupid dumb?  
KARKAT: YES.   
STUPID DUMB: hahaha! i love it! though that is probably my sleep deprived drain talking.  
KARKAT: SLEEP DEPRIVED *DRAIN*?! OH MY FUCKING- GO TO SLEEP! DONT YOU HAVE FUCKING SCHOOL TOMORROW? YOU KNOW WHAT, IM NOT DOING THIS. DONT TALK TO ME UNTIL YOU WAKE UP LATER. GOOD NIGHT EGBERT.  
STUPID DUMB: i thought my name was stupid dumb?

"AAAARARGHGHGH!!!" Karkat screamed, Kankri shrieked, and jumped as Karkat tried to strangle his phone.


	3. John the dumbass.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> john hasn't been in contact with Karkat for about a week, and Karkat's getting withdrawals.

-carcinoGenetecist [CG] stated pestering ectoBiologist [EB]-

CG: JOHN EGBERT, YOU BETTER FUCKING TALK TO ME!  
CG: YOU FUCKER! ITS BEEN TWO WEEKS!  
CG:...  
CG: ANSWER ME GODDAMMIT....

Karkat stared at the blinking screen, waiting for the obnoxious blue text to show up, with its laughing and telling him that he shouldn't be so impatient. Why wasn't John answering him? Had he done something wrong?

Karkat shifted through his binder of chat logs and couldn't see anything out of the ordinary. But, John not talking to him for one day wasn't that bad. And John always gave him fair warning to tell him that he wouldn't be on that day. It was time to seek advice, before his family heard him crying.

-carcinoGenetecist [CG] began pestering arsenicCatnip [AC]-

CG: NEPETA, I NEED ADVICE.  
AC: :33 *ac purrs and curls up on her little karkitten, wonpurring what he needs*  
CG: GERMAHEFFLDORLF... NEP, I SERIOUSLY NEED HELP. NONE OF MY MOVIES CAN HELP ME RIGHT NOW. I NEED TO TALK TO SOMEONE, AND WE BOTH KNOW THAT MIT AND SOLLUX ARENT MUCH HELP WHEN IT COMES TO PEOPLE.  
AC: :33 okay then, karkitten. what's wrong?  
CG: FUCKING FINALLY. JOHN HASNT RESPONDED TO ME FOR TWO WEEKS.  
AC: :33 is that it?  
CG: WHAT DO YOU MEAN *IS THAT IT*? WE TALK EVERY FUCKING DAY AND NOW OUT OF THE BLUE HE HASNT SO MUCH AS SAID HI!  
AC: :33 maybe he's just busy? you shouldn't worry too much. he'll contact you when he has time.  
CG: EVEN WHEN HE WAS BUSY AS FUCK HE TALKED TO ME. THANKS FOR MAKING ME WORRY MORE.

-carcinoGenetecist [CG] ceased pestering arsenicCatnip [AC]-

Karkat slammed his head against his keyboard as he looked around his little cupboard. Karkat felt frozen as a thought crossed his mind. What if John had grown tired of him? He looked at the charm bracelets on his wrist. John had sent him four more, and together they had separated the charms to the years they had recieved them. They each had six bracelets now, with little silver charms dangling like memories. the first one was the most bare, seeing as they had little contact that year. but it was also the most special. it was the one that held the half of heart that made them best friends. Karkat had the ST ENDS part of it.

But what if John didn't want to be his friend anymore?

KARKAT: TEXT ME GOGDMAMIT!

Tears of fear rolled down his cheeks and he sat for hours waiting for a reply. It was in the middle of dinner that the reply came. Karkat took out his phone shakily, despite the household rule that there be no phones at the table.

STUPID DUMB: hey karkat! what's up? you kinda mangled your words there, hahaha.

Karkat growled loudly. two weeks and all he gets is a whats up? not even a im sorry i ignored you? "are you fucking kidding me?!"

KARKAT: YOU ASSHOLE!  
KARKAT: TWO WEEKS!  
KARKAT: IVE BEEN TRYING TO CONTACT YOU FOR TWO WEEKS, YOU FUCK NUTS!  
KARKAT: WHAT HAS BEEN KEEPING YOU SO BUSY THAT YOU COULDNT EVEN TELL ME YOU WERE?!?!?!  
STUPID DUMB: okay, i get it. you're really mad.

"SOMEBODY GIVE YOU A MEDAL!!!" The teen screamed at his phone. His family was giving him worried looks, and his dad's red eyes were looking at him, searching for physical answers to his questions.

KARKAT: THAT IS THE FUCKING UNDERSTATMENT OF THE MILLENIUM, STUPID DUMB DUMMY FUCK ASS RESTUPID FUCKER!!!!!  
STUPID DUMB: karkat, i can explain...  
KARKAT: THEN EN-FUCKING-LIGHTEN ME!  
STUPID DUMB: i got a girlfriend. i've been hanging out with her for the past two weeks.

Karkat paled. John had a girlfriend. And he hadn't told him. That he had a girlfriend. John was in a relationship. His pink eyes kept reading and rereading those words.

STUPID DUMB: karkat?  
STUPID DUMB: are you there?

A choked sob escaped the albino just before he screamed in rage and stood from his seat, throwing his cellphone across the room, smashing it and rendering it useless.

"Karkat?" his dad asked, but the boy ran from the room sobbing and moments later the door to his cupboard slammed shut.


	4. family time

Karkat's dad knocked on the door to his cupboard the next morning. All he got was a grunt.

"Karkat? Can I come in?"Another grunt. but after a moment, there was the sound of a latch shifting, and the door fell ajar.

Karmine Vantas opened the door and sat at the foot of his youngest son's bed. Karkat's snow white hair was messier than usual, and his face was red, his eyes redder than usual, and he looked puffy. Kankri and Karkat were practically mirror images of him, Kankri more so than Karkat, because Karkat had complete albinism, whereas he and Kankri had ocular albinism. Only their eyes had albino traits, such as poor vision, photo-sensitivity and lack of melanin.

Any way, off topic. "Karkat, what's wrong kiddo?" Karmine asked, pulling the boy up to lean on him.

"John..." He said after a moment, his voice unusually weak and lacking the bite it usually held. He sounded empty. At this point, Karmine doubted that the teen even had any tears left in him.

"It's often about John, Karkat. But he has never made you act like you did last night. What did he do, sweetie?" The man asked, rubbing his son's back in comforting circles.

"John has a girlfriend." Karkat said softly, his voice wavering slightly.

"Well, he does have a life in the states. He's allowed to live it, dearling." Karmine said softly, hugging his son closer.

"I know that, dad! You think I don't? I know that he has a life outside of being my pen pal, but... He didn't tell me. He didn't tell me that he had a date. He didn't tell me anything for two weeks. after six years of talking non-stop everyday, then not hearing anything for two weeks, it's a huge shock! I tell him everything. I made him promise to return the favor when we became friends. And I... It hurts, dad. I don't know why it hurts so bad, but it does. And nothing I tell myself soothes the pain." Karkat buried his face in his dad's shoulder and cried.

Karmine held him until he moved away to sleep. Then the man left the cupboard and closed the door, rubbing his temple softly with one hand.

James, Karmine's husband, walked up and hugged him before leading him away to the den to talk.James had short black hair and hetero-chromatic eyes. The left was blue, the right was brown, and both of his sons had the trait.

"Karmine, what's wrong with Karkat? Did you find out?" He asked, hugging the other man again.

"I found out. He's heartbroken, and he doesn't understand why."

"Why?"

Karmine grinned up at the taller man. "Do you remember what happened when I married Katthryne?" The half asian man grimaced, but nodded. "He's going through what you did, only in the eighth grader version."

"Oh." James muttered, burying his face in Karmine's shoulder. "Well fuck. The poor kid."

"Hopefully it won't take them as long as we did to fix this." Karmine said, carding his hands through his husband's hair.

"Karkat's smart. He'll figure it out."


	5. GFDI John

-ectoBiologist [EB] started pestering carcinoGenetecist [CG]-

EB: karkat?  
EB: dude, i really need to talk.  
EB: i can't even remember the last time we talked like friends...  
EB: i'm sorry.  
EB: i know you won't forgive me, but i am.  
EB: i broke up with meghan.  
EB: i found out that she was only dating me out of pity.  
EB: karkat?  
EB: ...  
EB: so yeah...  
CG: YOURE CRYING ARENT YOU?  
EB: karkat?  
CG: NO. IM THE BOGEYMAN. YES ITS ME.  
EB: oh thank god. i'm so glad that you don't completely hate me forever enough to never talk to me again.  
CG: SO YOU BROKE UP WITH HER?  
EB: yeah. she felt sorry for me, so she agreed to go out with me.  
EB: now that i think about it, she wasn't a nice person anyways.  
EB: she wouldn't let me talk to any of my friends, and i was only allowed to hang out with her friends.  
EB: and she made me dress and act different.  
CG: DIFFERENT HOW?  
EB: like a bully. i also had to try out for sports.  
EB: though i did decide that i like track and field as well as cross-country.  
CG: I THOUGHT YOU HAD ASTHMA?  
EB: no, i don't. who told you that?  
CG: THATS ERIDAN. NEVERMIND.  
EB: who's eridan? is he a classmate?  
CG: YEAH, HE'S A CLASSMATE. HE'S ALSO THE SINGLE DOUCHIEST HUMAN FUCKASS ON THE FACE OF THIS PLANET.  
EB: hahaha! oh man...  
EB: i missed you.

Karkat blushed bright red at those words. John missed him? There was an odd giddiness bubbling up in his stomach, and he felt a grin stretch across his face.

CG: WELL, JUST THINK OF THAT THE NEXT TIME YOU DITCH ME FOR THREE MONTHS.  
EB: i didn't ditch you  
CG: THEN WHAT DO YOU CALL IGNORING ME FOR THREE MONTHS?  
CG: I THOUGHT SO.  
CG: ...  
CG: EGBERT?  
CG: STUPID DUMB?  
CG: ...  
CG: JOHN, ARE YOU STILL THERE?  
CG: HEY, ARE YOU CRYING?  
CG: JOHN?  
CG: ...  
EB: i'm here.  
EB: i'm so sorry, dude...  
CG: DONT WORRY ABOUT IT.  
CG: JUST TALK TO ME NEXT TIME.  
CG: I DONT LIKE BEING KEPT IN THE DARK.  
CG: ESPECIALLY BY MY FAVORITE PALHONCHO.  
EB: hahahahahahaha!  
EB: aren't i your only palhoncho?  
CG: YES.  
CG: BUT THAT DOESNT MEAN YOU CANT BE MY FAVORITE.  
EB: you're my favorite palhoncho too.

Karkat couldn't help it. He gently tossed his laptop to the foot of his bed, grabbed a pillow and squealed in glee into it. He rolled around on his bed like that, completely and utterly happy. Because his friend was still his best friend, and would be for a while more.


	6. Crush

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Karkat has a crush on a girl at school. it doesnt work out...

A month later, Karkat sat at the lunch table, a new charm attached to his newest bracelet. He was looking at a certain Terezi Pyrope, who was laughing at a joke another girl made.  
"hey Karkles! Why are you staring at me like that? Someone may think you like me!" The mostly blind girl cackled at him.  
"Shut up, Terezi." The albino tween blushed a brilliant red.  
"Ooooooooh," Vriska sneered. "Looks like you hit the nail on the head, Rezi."  
There were more cackles from the Pyrope, and Vriska snickered as Karkat slid down in his seat, pulling his hood over his head and curling into a ball.  
"shut up...." The ball of karkat said quietly. He would never live this one down.

****

After school, he had to walk home in the sun with out his sunglasses or umbrella. He pulled his hood over his face and shoved his hands into his pockets. By the time he got home, he had a really bad sunburn, and his eyes burned horribly.  
The only ones home were Kankri and Nepeta.  
"Where the fuck are the others?" Karkat asked when he entered the kitchen.  
"Language, Karkat." Kankri said. "Dad and Papa took Mituna and Sollux to the movies, and Mom took Meulin to her doctors appointment." Nepeta said, as she prepared tea. Kankri looked up from his homework and gasped. "Karkat! You look awful! How did you get so horribly sunburned?" "From the sun, obviously, fuckwit." "Come here and sit down. I'll get the vinegar." Kankri said, hopping out of his seat and going to the pantry as Karkat sat down. Kankri came back with the vinegar and a washcloth and started to gently dab it on Karkat's face. "Karkitten, do you want some tea?" "No thank you, Nep." "Are you sure?" "Positive." "Really?" "Absolutely." "Tea would actually help, Karkat." "I don't want any fucking tea!" "Language." Karkat settled for mumbling profanities under his breath as Nepeta sat across from him and Kankri got up to put the vinegar away. "So how was school, Karkitten?" "Do you want the long ranty version, or the tl;dr version?" "um... tl;dr?" "Alright. tl;dr girl found out i like her. She proceded to make fun of me." "aww... I'm sorry Karkitten." "That is why I never wish to fall for anyone. It just seems like it's unnecisary pain." Kankri commented. "That is a very depressing view, Kankri." "What about Latula, Kankers?" Karkat asked, smirking when his twin's face turned bright red. "T-That is completely different, Karkat! I do indeed admire her, but I do not feel like that about her!" "Lies, and we both know it." "I could ask you the same about Terezi." "Yeah I like her like that. But she made it very obvious that she doesn't feel the same about me." "Is she the one from today?" "Yeah. It's okay though. I didn't expect her to return my affections." "Oh, dear." "Its fine. I'll tell John, and he can tell me that I was being stupid, and I'll get mad, then he'll make me laugh and everything will be just fine." And that's exactly what happened.


End file.
